News of deputies

Scandal in Congress: Kirchnerite, libertarian deputies row ends session

Yesterday 19:02 Chamber of Deputies session ends early with pushing and shoving between La Libertad Avanza and Kirchnerite legislators.

POLITICS & CONGRESS

Lower house approves probe into Milei-$LIBRA crypto scandal

08-04-2025 19:30 Lawmakers vote to summon key ministers as fallout grows over so-called ‘Cryptogate’ scandal.

IMF DEBT PROGRAMME

Milei wins lower house approval to agree new IMF loan

19-03-2025 17:52 Milei granted free hand in negotiations with International Monetary Fund over a new programme as lower house backs decree authorising talks.

Congress & Politics

Congress upholds Milei’s decree to back new IMF-Argentina deal

19-03-2025 17:44 Lower house lawmakers vote in favour of President Javier Milei’s emergency executive decree backing a new deal with the International Monetary Fund.

POLITICS & CONGRESS

Scandal as La Libertad Avanza deputies come to blows in Congress

14-03-2025 00:01 Fistfight between ruling party deputies Oscar Zago and Lisandro Almirón after the latter accused the former of treason by granting quorum brought the session to an abrupt halt.

POLITICS & CONGRESS

Budget clash, extra sessions, Speaker Menem – Milei’s first year in Congress

04-12-2024 17:39 Despite being firmly in the minority, Milei has managed to amend over 100 laws since taking office and advance his programme of fiscal austerity. Nevertheless, tensions with allies and opposition persist, centred on the 2025 Budget, anti-graft laws and electoral reform.

by Facundo Maceira

Congress & Politics

No 'ficha limpia’: PRO anger as absences down anti-graft bill

28-11-2024 21:52 Second failure for ‘Ficha Limpa’ anti-corruption bill in lower house; With striking absences, Chamber of Deputies fails to even make quorum, let alone debate bill.

ELECTIONS

Lower house deputies approve single paper ballot in time for 2025 midterms

02-10-2024 15:42 More than two years after they first approved it, lawmakers in Argentina back the use of a single ballot paper for nationwide votes; Measure backed in a 143-87 vote with five abstentions.

BEYOND THE HEADLINES

Untidily Crumbling Radicals

28-09-2024 06:05 The Unión Cívica Radical crisis perhaps stems from standing or falling from being the men in the middle in many senses – representing a middle class facing extinction and a middle ground squeezed out by polarisation.

by Michael Soltys

POLITICS & CONGRESS

Double blow for Milei: Senate passes university bill, blocks SIDE cash

13-09-2024 11:04 Milei’s cash for spy services blocked as both chambers of Congress block presidential decree for first time since 1994; Senate approves law providing salary increases and boosting budget for universities facing funding “emergency.”

HUMAN RIGHTS

Libertarian deputies visit convicted dictatorship repressors in jail

18-07-2024 15:11 Entre Ríos lawmaker Benedit Beltrán (La Libertad Avanza) set up a meeting between a group of legislators and sentenced former military men jailed at the Ezeiza prison. Inner circle of Martín Menem, head of the lower house, claims top officials “knew nothing about it" beforehand.

CONGRESS & POLITICS

Milei’s reforms set to cross finish line in Congress

27-06-2024 19:26 President on the cusp of clinching his biggest political victory since taking office, with lawmakers likely to give final approval to two key proposals.

Congress & Politics

Congress set for final showdown on Milei's sweeping reform package

27-06-2024 12:01 Session scheduled to begin at midday and signs indicate the Milei government will secure its first legislative victory since taking office more than six months ago.

CONGRESS & POLITICS

Milei vows veto as deputies approve new pension formula

05-06-2024 10:20 Deputies rebel against government, voting 160-72 in favour of new formula to update pensions; President immediately vows to strike down bill should it clear Senate.

POLITICS

Menem signs resolution for 80% hike in expenses for national deputies

04-06-2024 17:35 To be paid in three instalments, the hike will lift sitting lawmakers' salaries to more than 2.2 million pesos a month.

OPINION & ANALYSIS

Milei finally discovers politics

01-05-2024 22:33 President Milei appealed to dialogue and negotiation and obtained his first parliamentary triumph with the approval of his ‘Ley de Bases’ bill and accompanying fiscal package. The head of state has to persuade people of his ability to govern while in a minority. He is being watched by audiences in Washington and Beijing.

by Walter Curia

POLITICS & CONGRESS

Milei's liberalisation reforms get a provisional green light

30-04-2024 14:28 Lawmakers approve in principle a swathe of liberalising reforms eyed by President Javier Milei in a rare legislative boost for his budget-slashing agenda.

CONGRESS & POLITICS

Milei wins key lower house support for Argentina’s reforms

30-04-2024 13:25 Lawmakers approve expanded executive powers on administrative, financial, economic and energy matters, as well as the ability to dissolve dozens of special-purpose federal government funds.

POLITICS

Lower house opens debate on Milei's 'omnibus' reform package

29-04-2024 14:59 Chamber of Deputies opens debate on President Javier Milei's 'omnibus' reform package; Session expected to stretch into Tuesday and last at least 30 hours.

POLITICS

New ‘Omnibus’ bill draft circulates, CGT calls another strike

11-04-2024 17:21 After negotiations, Milei administration settles on abridged version of sweeping 'Omnibus' bill; New 182-page text has 12 chapters and 279 articles; Government ramps up negotations in bid to avoid another congressional defeat.

POLITICS

La Libertad Avanza removes head of lower house caucuss

11-04-2024 16:19 Oscar Zago's replacement will be Córdoba lawmaker Gabriel Bornorini, who presides over the General Legislation commission and will now head up crucial 'omnibus' bill debate; Vote was unanimous and Zago announces departure from the La Libertad Avanza caucus in lower house.

POLITICS

Menem, Villarruel agree to increase lawmakers' pay by 30%

08-03-2024 18:20 President Javier Milei says he is against move, declaring that “a lot of people are a lot worse off with a lot less money.”

POLITICS & CONGRESS

Martín Menem defends decision to hire 23-year-old nephew for Congress job

05-03-2024 14:24 Lower House Speaker Martín Menem (La Libertad Avanza) defends decision to appoint 23-year-old 'once-removed' nephew to lush Congress job reported to pay two million pesos a month.

Congress & Politics

Government freezes omnibus bill – and wants to make governors pay

08-02-2024 14:50 President Javier Milei is evaluating the possibility of calling a non-binding plebiscite to pass his reforms in the hope of a new Congress breakdown after the 2025 midterms.

Abortion rights

Lawmakers from Milei’s party send bill to Congress seeking to repeal abortion law

08-02-2024 09:47 Lawmakers from President Javier Milei’s party introduce bill to Congress that would repeal landmark abortion law passed in December 2020.

Congress & Politics

Milei's economic reforms stall in Congress, bill returned to committee stage

06-02-2024 21:55 President Milei's ‘omnibus’ mega-reform bill dealt major setback lawmakers in Congress prevented it from advancing; Bill was promptly returned to committee stage for a rewrite.

CONGRESS

Key test for Milei as lower house opens debate on ‘Omnibus’ reform bill

31-01-2024 12:24 Ruling party obtains quorum and debate begins on President Milei’s sweeping ‘Omnibus’ mega-reform bill; Session expected to last at least 35 hours as libertarian leader faces first true legislative test in the lower house Chamber of Deputies; Government confident it has the numbers.

Congress & Politics

Omnibus bill: Government pushes back lower house debate

24-01-2024 17:44 Government sources in the Chamber of Deputies, speaking on condition of anonymity, say that ruling party wants to push back debate on landmark bill until next Tuesday (January 30).

ANALYSIS

New Congress will condition Milei’s bid for reform

08-12-2023 00:37 Javier Milei's radical reforms are likely to be heavily conditioned by Congress, with the libertarian leader's caucus a minority in both houses.

POLITICS

Milei’s team for Congress: Menem for lower house, Paoltroni in Senate

04-12-2023 18:00 Heads of lower and upper houses will be libertarians “following democratic tradition of last 40 years,” says president-elect’s office;

ELECTION 2023 – RESULTS

Peronists to be first minority in Congress as libertarians boost legislative numbers

25-10-2023 15:19 La Libertad Avanza has had only three deputies since the 2021 midterms, including the candidate himself, but that is all set to change. The libertarians have boosted representation dramatically in the lower house and its number of senators in the upper chamber.

'Ganancias' bill in Congress

Income tax bill clears lower house with support from Milei, left-wingers

20-09-2023 16:38 Bill to raise ‘ganancias’ threshold to 1.77 million pesos approved by lower house; 135 Frente de Todos, provincial party, leftist and libertarian deputies, among others, back it; 103 votes against, mostly Juntos por el Cambio.